Phonics Lesson Plans for Preschool
Phonics lesson plans are an essential tool for building strong decoding skills and fostering early literacy development. This is true even in preschool. By incorporating strategies like proven letter recognition activities, you can create a fun and effective learning environment for emergent readers.
In this post, we’ll share practical tips, creative ideas, and insights to help you implement phonics activities that make a difference.
Phonics is a fundamental skill that lays the foundation for reading and writing. By teaching children to recognize and blend sounds, we prepare them to decode words independently. This skill, in turn, can help create a love of reading and help set the stage for lifelong learning.
In our daily preschool literacy curriculum, we incorporate phonics into every lesson. Through a variety of fun activities, such as games, songs, and hands-on experiences, preschoolers develop a strong understanding of phonics concepts.
The full curriculum includes phonics, phonological awareness, and oral language lesson plans, providing a well-rounded approach to early literacy development which includes:
Read this: The Ultimate Guide to Preschool Lesson Planning.
What is Phonics?
Phonics is a fundamental pre-reading skill that helps children connect sounds with letters. Phonics instruction teaches children to break down words into individual sounds (phonemes) and associate them with the corresponding letters (graphemes). Source: Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel
This process involves teaching children to recognize and blend sounds, enabling them to sound out words and build their reading fluency and comprehension.
FAQ About Phonics Lesson Plans
Phonics instruction can begin as early as preschool. Young children are naturally curious and receptive to learning new sounds and letter-sound relationships.
Every day! Phonics should be integrated into daily lessons to reinforce learning. Short, frequent phonics activities are more effective than longer, less frequent sessions.
Basic phonics skills include:
~ Phonemic awareness: The ability to identify and manipulate sounds in words.
~ Letter-sound correspondence: Recognizing the sounds associated with each letter.
~ Blending sounds: Combining sounds to form words.
~ Segmenting words: Breaking words into individual sounds.
Provide explicit instruction by clearly teaching phonics concepts to ensure understanding. Use systematic instruction to introduce skills in a logical sequence, building on what students have already learned. Differentiate instruction by adapting lessons to meet the unique needs of each learner.
How to Teach Phonics to Preschoolers?
Effective phonics instruction for young children requires a clear, structured approach. Passive learning or relying solely on exposure isn’t enough. Children need direct and explicit teaching to build a strong foundation in phonics.
Let’s explore practical strategies to help your preschoolers master phonics and develop a love for reading.
- Age-Appropriate Phonics Activities:
- Phonics Games and Songs: Make learning fun with games like “Sound Bingo” and sing-along phonics songs. Check out these fun ways to teach letter recognition.
- Phonics Worksheets and Puzzles: Reinforce learning with worksheets and puzzles that focus on letter-sound correspondence and word building.
- Phonics Stories and Books: Use storybooks to introduce new phonics concepts and practice reading skills.
- Create a Phonics-Rich Environment:
- Label Objects: Label objects in the classroom to reinforce letter-sound associations.
- Using Phonics Charts and Word Walls: Display phonics charts and word walls to provide visual references.
- Phonics Assessment and Progress Monitoring:
- Regularly assess your preschoolers’ phonics skills to identify areas of strength and weakness.
- Use informal assessments, such as observations and conversations, to monitor progress.
All these things are naturally included in our Daily Lessons in Preschool Literacy Curriculum Bundle!
Key Components of Effective Phonics Lesson Plans
To ensure that your preschoolers develop strong foundational reading skills, it’s important to include a variety of phonics activities in your daily lessons.
Alphabet Review and Sound Recognition:
Start each phonics lesson with a quick review of the introduced alphabet letters and their corresponding sounds. This consistent review will help your preschoolers solidify their understanding of letter-sound relationships. We recommend including fun activities like:
- Letter-Sound Matching Activities: Use worksheets or games to match letters to their corresponding sounds.
- Alphabet Songs: Sing songs that highlight the alphabet and their sounds.
- Chants and Rhymes: Use rhythmic chants and rhymes to reinforce letter-sound associations.
- Our phonics curriculum utilizes Alphabet Friends! Each letter of the alphabet has a corresponding animal beginning with the same sound, and each animal has their own story, song, and kinesthetic action to go along with it.
Introduction of New Letter Sounds:
Introduce a new letter sound each week, focusing on its shape, sound, and word examples. Show your preschoolers corresponding phonics picture cards to help solidify their understanding of letter sound association.
To keep the learning multisensory and developmentally appropriate, be sure to include activities such as tracing letters in the air, in sand or in playdough, or by building letters with blocks and manipulatives.
We like to use these Roadway Letter formation Mats along with our Fine Motor Letter Formation Mats.
Practice and Application:
To reinforce learning, incorporate the new letter sound into daily activities such as writing, reading, and games. Use “And-Or” activities to provide opportunities for both independent and guided practice.
In our Daily Lessons in Phonics Lesson plans, each day includes an array of skill practice ranging from the following:
- Naming beginning sounds
- Reading beginning sounds
- Letter/sound sorts
- Naming corresponding words
- Auditory sound sorts
- Beginning sound elimination games
- Differentiating letter sorts
- Letter and sound riddles
- Phonics gross motor games
Read this: An In-Depth Look at Phonics Lesson Plans for Preschoolers.
Phonics Centers for Preschool:
Phonics preschool enters allow preschoolers to explore phonics concepts through engaging activities, promoting a solid foundation in letter recognition, sound association, letter formation, and even some decoding skills. By creating a structured yet playful environment, preschool centers help children practice phonics skills in meaningful and memorable ways.
Activities in phonics preschool centers should include:
- sensory elements
- a variety of learning tools
- letter manipulatives
- task cards, games and printable activities to offer direction in learning
Printable Phonics Centers for Preschoolers
Here is a quick list of the printable phonics activities included in the Daily Lessons in Preschool Phonics Curriculum.
- Alphabet and Phonics Puzzles
- Beginning Sounds Clip Cards
- Beginning Sounds Fill-in Cards
- Beginning Sounds Picture Seek
- Beginning Sounds Roadway Letter Formation Mats
- Beginning Sounds Tracing Cards
- Fine Motor Letter Formation Practice Mats
- Interactive Alphabet Books
- Letter Matching with Beginning Sounds
- Letter Formation Mats with Beginning Sounds
These printable materials are not only cost-effective but also versatile, making it easy to adapt activities for different skill levels and learning styles. By using phonics preschool centers with printable resources, educators can create a rich and supportive learning environment that helps every child thrive.
Incorporating phonics into your daily lessons sets your students up for a lifetime of literacy success.
Make learning fun and engaging through a variety of activities, such as games, songs, and hands-on experiences. Celebrate each child’s progress, no matter how small, and provide consistent practice and positive reinforcement.
With a solid foundation in phonics, your young learners will develop a love of reading and writing that will last a lifetime. They’ll become confident readers and writers, ready to tackle any challenge that comes their way.
I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.
